figure of eights imperfectly

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Malachi entered the indoor arena, his breath misting in the cold air. He wore thick socks to keep his toes from numbing inside his field boots and gloves to keep his fingers from freezing. It was an hour after his second group had left, and he had had his coffee break. Now it was time for the second group. At least he was halfway. He had already planned it a week ago, and all he carried was a clipboard with a pen and paper to make his own notes on each rider in this group. He would be starting them off easy in his opinion. Riders underestimated the value of a well ridden circle in dressage, where it was supposed to be the opposite. Circles, at varying sizes, showed the judges the horse's ability to bend, how supple they were, and how well the rider could keep the horse in contact.

The indoor arena, thankfully, had dressage letters placed in the correct spots, he just hoped that his students knew the layout of the letters. He had kept the classes small, and thus easier to focus on an individual horse and rider pairing. Malachi knew that the students were used to riding their own horses. It wasn't long before the first students arrived. He observed and greeted each one quietly, before placing on his headset and turning on the mic. This way he wouldn't have to shout and scream to get a student's attention.

Good day he greeted his class. I am Malachi and i am your dressage instructor. I would like to start off by having you introduce yourselves and your mounts, how long you have been riding, and at what level if you have been riding competitively.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney was excited as she got Olé ready for their dressage class. The top of her brunette hair was pulled back in double French braids and then joined into a single braid which was folded over and held into place with a hair-tie. She was wearing grey track pants over her white jodhpurs and her muddy field boots currently protected her feet. The bay sabino mare was contentedly dozing in the cross-ties as the girl worked on her, making sure that the brown hair - that had a low trace clip - glowed, the white patch on her belly seemed to stand out even more since the hair had been clipped away from it.

Once the mare was ready, Cotney walked into the tack room where she shed her boots and pants and pushed her feet into her glossy field boots. She then pulled her Carles Owen helmet on and led the mare to the arena. She was a little surprised that she was the first to arrive, and didn't waste any time getting the mare settled onto the bit.

She warmed the mare up, watching the others arrive without saying anything, and rode into the middle as the man addressed them. Cortney gave a bright smile. "Hi, I'm Cortney Smit and this is Olé. I've only just started competing this girl, so we currently do Introductory dressage." There was something about the mare that told her that she could do so much better than the most basic level of dressage, but Cortney couldn't convince Olé to open that part of herself.

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    Kate stopped in the tack room before getting to Poet's stall to collect her dressage saddle, saddle pad, and bridle as well as the gelding's brushes. Dressage wasn't her favorite or strongest discipline, but she stuck with it since it was the discipline she had first learned, and she wanted to keep her skills strong. She found knowing basic dressage to be very helpful in connecting with her horse, and it seemed to pay off in the hunter and equitation rings. She tacked up the gelding fairly quickly, as his coat was clipped and he was blanketed most of the time. 

    Once the gelding was ready, she led him into the indoor on a loose rein, nodding in greeting to the new instructor before mounting Poet. Poet was more trained in dressage than she was, though in the past, Kate had done primarily dressage. Both she and her gelding had transitioned to the hunter/jumper world, though they kept their roots in dressage. She warmed Poet up, pushing him to make him work and focus, and getting herself used to the dressage saddle that she used so infrequently now.

    When instructed, Kate walked Poet to the center with the rest of the students and introduced herself when it was her turn. "Hello, my name is Kate Holden, and my gelding's name is Poet. I have been riding for seven years, though I used to focus on dressage a lot more than I do now. I no longer compete in dressage, though I competed at the training level in the past."

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The cold winter air bit nipped at Jason's ears as he hurried to Red Willow Barn. He was wearing dark brown breeches, his boots, and black Cabela's jacket over a sweatshirt from his old school. As he neared Tickle's stall, he whistled a C scale. A smile crossed his face as he heard a sharp replying whinny. As usual, a black horse head was hanging over the stall door, nose and ears pointed towards his boy. "Hey Tickle." Jason said, haltering his horse and putting him in the cross-ties. He spotted a stain on the Oldenburg's white left shoulder and groaned. He left it alone for the moment and went to retrieve his tack. A glance at his watch showed that he had about 5 minutes to try and get rid of the stain. Eventually, he left it faded but still noticeable.

The pair made the short trip to Benedict's Arena, where he actually recognized a few of the horses already present. He mounted up and set Tickle off at a nice, moving walk to begin their warm-up. Despite his lack of experience with formal dressage lessons and shows, Jason had learned a few dressage skills, more out of necessity than anything, really. Despite his preference for jumping, Jason knew that his horse could perform well if asked correctly. He guided the pinto into the center and waited for his turn to introduce himself. "Hello. My name's Jason and this is Tickle. I have been riding for 4 years. I've never shown in dressage, but I know a bit. Tickle knows more. He said lightly.

[Danielle Green]

Once again there was a mounted class upon them and Danny was already in the barn with Remi. She spent a long while thoroughly grooming the mare; her curly thick coat was present, of course, with the season being winter. The sixteen year old knew what time she had to be in the indoor arena for her dressage class and pulled out her phone to double check the time and seeing that she had twenty minutes before the class was due to start she began tacking the mare up. ”You’re such a good horse.” Danny stroked Remi’s velvety nose before walking towards the tack room to bring out her dressage tack.

Placing the clean white dressage saddle on her bay and white back then the polished black saddle was placed on top of the saddle pad. Putting the dressage girth on it was only tightened to the second hole on each side to keep the saddle in place while they made their trip to the arena. Guiding the bit into the Curly’s mouth Danny finished putting it in place, making sure that her browband and noseband were symmetrical. Grabbing her helmet she walked Remi to the arena and tightened the girth another time before mounting up. Warming her up for a few minutes before the instructor called the class together. She was one of the last ones to introduce themselves, ”Hi I’m Danielle Green, or Danny, and this is Sunny Reminder or Remi. I’ve been riding in general for about five years. I’ve only just been assigned her and haven’t competed with her, but I’ve competed at second level dressage.” She smiled and waited for more directions.

outfit

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Malachi watched as each student entered the arena, most of them warming already. That was enough for him. It was better than just mulling around and doing nothing. It would also shorten the lesson time slightly, but he would have preferred that all the horses had an equal amount of warm up time, and he would send them around again when he finished his instructions. He listened to every introduction, and nodded, committing the names to memory.

So I gather each one of you has some small introduction to dressage at some point in your lives. Dressage is basically the culmination of basic flatwork exercises in the lower levels, and the higher you go, the more it shows the connection between horse and rider. So, who can tell me how to ride the perfect circle? he asked with a smile.

He listened the answers, and then drew a circle in the sand. A circle indicates to the judges the horse's suppleness and ability to keep working properly while bending. It is very easy to over-bend, especially just at the neck, while the horse still works hollow through his back. So, first, we're going to start off at a posting trot, and at C, one at a time, go into a circle. So Cortney, you'll start us off with a circle, it doesn't have to be perfect first time round. I would like to see active working trots from the rest of you, having your horse work round and using his back. I'll be helping you along the way, and don't hesitate to ask if you are struggling.

[Cortney Smit]

Cortney rubbed Olé's shoulder, once all the introductions were over, as the mare pawed at the ground, her way of saying that she was bored of standing still. The cheerleader then turned her attention to the teacher who was talking again... about circles? "A circle should be looked at as four equal parts, riding one of that quarters at a time. There are also two aspects to the circle, how the horse is being ridden on a curved line as well as how the figure is being ridden geometrically. And most of all, you should never not be turning." She could hear the voice of the neurotic dressage instructor that her and Myriam had for pony club and smiled at the memory.

When they were asked to move off, Cortney squeezed the mare into a walk, and as soon as felt ready, the girl squeezed her forward into a trot. She sat to the stride to make sure the mare was working from behind. Olé arched her neck, bending from the poll as she accepted the bit with a light and soft contact with a relaxed jaw and is submissive through her body, her back rounding beautifully, taking the weight onto her hindquarters. Cortney and then allowed herself to move in time with the horse and began posting, her hips coming forward with the mare's outside leg. Three strides from C, the junior gave the mare the cue for what she wanted; inside leg on the girth for the mare to bend around, outside leg slightly behind the girth, but passive, to protect the quarters, her inside hand invited the mare's neck to bend, but didn't force it, and her outside hand was there control the amount of bend created with the inside hand, impulsion, tempo and balance.

As they approached C again, Cortney's eyes shifted toward the teacher, without turning her head, as she wasn't quite sure if they were supposed to continue on the circle or return to the track.